Skulduggery Pleasant: Blast from the past
by Kouga-sama
Summary: Set after "Playing with fire" Life goes on for crime-fighting duo Pleasant and Cain, but not as they would have liked to, with Guild still in charge and their resources cut, but a visit from some of Skuls old friends might just change that. "I own nothing
1. Vicious has landed

_**Skulduggery Pleasant**_

"_**Blast from the past**__**"**_

_**1**_

_**Vicious has landed**_

_The woman stepped__ off the plane, a polite smile gracing her pale face as she passed the airport personnel, heading for the gate exit and all the while her hands never left her pockets, one of her fingers playing with the cork of one of the many small bottles inside. _

_She reached the exit, cleared the toll, and went to pick up her baggage when she suddenly spotted something. A man in his late middle age, with grey hair and beard, dressed in a dark overcoat, standing in a corner, looking like he was waiting for something, or someone. _

"_Could it be…" the woman whispered, hope filling her as she began walking towards the man. She reached out a shivering hand, and gently grasped his shoulder._

"_Baron…?" she asked hopefully, making him turn around. But as he did, her hope was turned into disappointment, and then anger. How DARED he look like her beloved!_

_The man gave the stranger a puzzled look when she remained quiet after she'd turned him around. This gave him a moment to gaze at her pleasant form. She was tall, thin and so blonde her straight waist-long hair looked almost white, which contrasted beautifully against her emerald green eyes. The dark leather coat fit snugly on her body, showing it off at its best. _

_Another few seconds passed, and the man began to feel slightly awkward and decided to break the silence._

"_Yes?" He said. The woman seemed to snap out of whatever trance she'd been in, and gave him a radiant smile. _

"_Oh, excuse me; I mistook you for someone else. Terribly sorry." She said, revealing with her accent that she was Scottish. The man returned her smile._

"_Not to worry, that happens. People often mistake me for Kenny Rogers, and I can't say I blame them." He said with a small chuckle. _

_She was disgusted by him, but hid it well, a plan forming in her head as she smiled falsely at him once again. She figured he would do well replenishing her stock. _

"_I was looking for the ladies room, but I can't find it. Could you be soo kind to show me where it is?" she asked him sweetly. It took all of her willpower not to let her mask slip. _

"_Why certainly, it's right this way." He said, pointing in the direction of a lesser crowded corridor. She followed him as he led the way. But as he passed a door leading into a darkened maintenance room, he was forcefully pushed inside, the door closed after the woman and a second later a blood-chilling scream was heard. None in the busy airport heard the man's pained death cry. _


	2. Good Times

_**2**_

_**Good times**_

Valkyrie Cain looked with disgust around the shelves, littered with jars of various sizes. They all contained something that could easily have been mistaken for white animal fur, but she knew better. They were all filled with hair, and not just any hair. Nostril hair. They were all filled with white, disgusting _nostril _hair_. That's_ was what she and her partner and mentor had been working on for the past few days.

Some mad man named Neesle Auspicious who had an obsession with white nostril hair. Apparently he believed it granted eternal life when digested and had made it his life work to collect hair from every man in the U.K, in the hopes of being able to live forever. It would have been harmless, if it weren't for the fact that the loon actually _cut _the victims noses off just to get to the hair.

It was that man's apartment they were in now. They'd already arrested the lunatic and sent him off to Mr Bliss to be dealt with. The only reason they were there was because they needed to find the weapon he used. The nutjob hadn't even had the decency to have it on him when he was arrested. Valkyrie just hoped they would leave soon. The apartment was small, damp and unbelievably messy. It smelled of unwashed clothes and damp dog, mixed with a lot of _Eau de_ _Garbage_. She sighed as she stepped over a pile of dirty laundry and returned to the hall to stand by the door and wait for Skulduggery. He emerged from the bedroom a few seconds later, triumphantly holding up a small pocket knife in his hand.

"Here's the little culprit. He's going straight into an evidence bag, straight to Mr Bliss´ desk." He said, sealing said plastic bag before stuffing it into his coat pocket and they exited the apartment not a moment too soon.

"I miss the good times." Valkyrie said as they returned outside, after taking a deep breath of the warm autumn air, cleansing her nose from the apartment's putrid smell. Skulduggery tilted his head at her.

"Good times?" He asked, un-locking the Bentley as they crossed the street.

"Yes, you know when we got to fight real bad guys, save the world and stuff like that. Not run after lowly crooks like Auspicious or Mr Whiskers, the cat-napper. Makes me almost miss the really _evil _villains." Valkyrie explained as they got into the car.

"Seatbelt. Every case is equally important. Every crime is evil." Skulduggery said, turned the ignition and drove out on the street.

"Auspicious and Whiskers are _nothing_ compared to Vengeous or Serpine. They would eat those pseudo-villains for breakfast, with syrup on top." She said, complaining.

"I reckon they wouldn't taste that good, though, and I´m sure at least one of them would cause bowel problems. Diarrhoea, at least." Skulduggery mused as he skilfully manoeuvred the dark Bentley through the streets of Dublin. The twilight sun cast a golden light across the city, making it look warmer and more exotic than it really was. Valkyrie was just glad the city even still existed.

It had been little over two months ago since she, Skulduggery, Tanith Low and the powers of the Sanctuary Cleavers, coupled with the strength of Mr Bliss and the reluctant help of the Torment had stopped Baron Vengeous from bringing the Faceless Ones back. By killing the Grotesquery they had been able to stop the ritual from taking place and had saved the world. Again.

But things hadn't really turned out too good. Thurid Guild was still Grand Mage of the Sanctuary, which meant Skulduggery was still fired. It didn't mean that much when it came to money, seeing as he was a skeleton and didn't need to buy much for himself. The only thing he spent money on, as far as Valkyrie knew, was his suits and his car.

But their information resources from the Sanctuary had been cut down to an annoying level. Mr Bliss helped them out whenever he could, bringing documents they needed and things like that, which was very helpful. But it still irked her that Skulduggery was banned from ever setting foot inside the Sanctuary again, as long as Guild was Grand Mage.

They arrived at their appointed destination, and parked the Bentley before stepping out onto St William's street, were they saw Mr Bliss wait for them, standing underneath the overgrown sign of St William's Park, with the lush hedges on either side, making him look like he was surrounded in a frame of greenery. It would have been a pretty sight, something for a photographer, but Valkyrie thought the picture would be ruined by the pale cold in his eyes. Mr Bliss acknowledged them with a court nod as they approached.

"Mr Pleasant." The bald man said to the skeleton as they came up to him.

"I assume that you've succeeded in retrieving the object." As an answer to that, Skulduggery brought up the plastic bag form his pocket, containing the knife.

"Wrapped and all. I´m sorry I could find a bow that matched though." He joked. Mr Bliss face remained as stony as ever, so Skulduggery coughed and just gave him the bag.

"We also found his stash of hair back at the apartment, that's enough evidence for him to get thrown into a cosy little cell for life. Almost makes me feel glad I don't have a nose anymore."

"Auspicious will be in our custody for the remainder of his youth at the least." Mr Bliss informed them. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

"How long is that exactly?" she asked puzzled, seeing as she knew magicians could live very long lifes. Mr Bliss turned to her as he answered her question, making he feel a little uncomfortable. She'd never really liked his eyes.

"Approximately, 40 to 50 years, depending on how fast he ages. Not to worry, he won't be back out in a _very_ long time." He responded.

"I wasn't worried…" she muttered silently. If Bliss heard her he didn't reveal it, his gaze returning to Skulduggery.

"With this last piece of evidence the case is closed. I thank you for your help, Detective." Mr Bliss said and with that he turned and disappeared inside the park. When he was out of earshot Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie.

"Happy fellow, that Bliss, but I swear all that smiling is gonna give him wrinkles one day." He said as he began walking back to the car, followed by a grinning Valkyrie.

Meetings like this had become regular, Bliss acting as their secret link to the Sanctuary while she and Skulduggery were out solving crimes, and all the while Guild took all the credit for it, something Valkyrie found more than just a _tad_ annoying. That stuck up old fart was nothing more than a fraud and a traitor. Only problem was that they didn't have any evidence to prove it to the rest of the magical society.

"_Who will watch the watchmen" _The old saying Skulduggery had mentioned two months ago came to her mind as she got into the car once more and they returned out onto the streets, heading for the small town of Haggard. The sun had already set, but it wasn't late. With fall came early darkness, not that she minded but she would miss the late evenings she used to spend sitting by the pier, basking in the last rays of the sun.

Skulduggery parked some way away from her house, as they usually did to avoid being seen by her parents. He killed the engine and turned to her, looking like he wanted to say something but then decided against it.

"What?" Valkyrie asked. He tilted his head slightly, but then shook it, turning to look out the windshield.

"Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow, be sure to get some sleep. You look like you need it. Those huge bags underneath your eyes aren't gonna disappear on their own, you know" He said, trying to joke it away, but that only got her even more curious.

"Spill it. You were about to say something and you know I wont drop the subject until you tell me" she said, folding her arms together. Skulduggery sighed.

"It's nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"I knew you wouldn't."

"So why wont you tell me?" Valkyrie asked. Skulduggery gave a low growl.

"How did you become so stubborn and annoying?"

"I've learned from the best" Was her response, making him shake his head once more.

"My brilliant mind is just working overtime. You would probably be overwhelmed by half the thoughts I think up." The joke was lame, typically Skulduggery, Valkyrie just sighed.

"Alright, I was just thinking of what you said."

"About what?"

"´The good times` as you put it. Real villains and real evil."

"What about it?" Valkyrie wondered, unfolding her arms.

"Not that I wish for more evil and mayhem, but I have to admit that it gets kind of boring with missions like the one we wrapped up today. And I just realized that what you consider as "fun" would make a normal girl run for the hills."

"But I´m not a normal girl, am I? Your point being?"

If he'd had eyes Skulduggery´s gaze would have been serious, but he didn't need to, Valkyrie felt it as he turned his head fully towards her.

"Point being, don't get too cocky and wish for something like that just because you're bored. One day it could blow up in your face. It probably will too. We've been lucky soo far. _You've_ been lucky. And one thing I know for sure is that luck has to run out sometime." He said seriously. Valkyrie thought about what he'd just said and realized he was indeed right. The thought was absurd, but she had actually said earlier that she almost wished Serpine and Vengeous back. Or people like them. And all because she was _bored_.

She was so dumbfounded she didn't say anything for a few moments, until Skulduggery spoke again.

"Just keep in mind what I said and you'll do fine Valkyrie. Now shoo, I've got to get some beauty sleep too, you know. Looks this good don't come without hard work." He said, back to his usual lame self again. She nodded, managing a small smile and stepped out of the Bentley, looking down the street towards her house.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Val" Skulduggery said from inside the car before she closed the door and he started up the engine and drove down the street and into the night.

Valkyrie got inside her house the usual way by controlling the air underneath her to fly up to the windowsill to her room. It had become a habitual thing, ever since she'd mastered the way of getting in and out of her house by using the air magic.

Concentration followed by calmness as she reached out and felt the air around her until she knew just what to do, and the exact amount of force to use to get where she wanted. She had become so good that nowadays she didn't land clumsily or had to dangle from her windowsill to then climb inside. She'd learned how to land softly and to smoothly soar up to her window, which she'd instructed her reflection to keep open until she returned home.

She landed on the windowsill in a hunched position and looked inside to see her reflection sitting on the bed, as it usually would when it had nothing particular to do.

"Is mum and dad home?" Valkyrie asked the reflection as she stepped inside her room.

"Your dad is still at work and your mum is at your aunts and uncles house" the reflection said.

"At Beryl and Fergus? Why on earth is she there?" Valkyrie exclaimed surprised.

"They invited her to have tea. They invited all of you but I managed to come up with an excuse to stay home."

Valkyrie raised her eyebrows, both for the fact that Beryl had invited them to tea, which she found suspicious. Then there was the fact that her reflection had come up with an excuse, but then she figured it would have been something she'd done herself, and so thought nothing more of it.

"Are you ready to resume your life?" her replica asked and rose from the bed, seeing as Valkyrie had put away her coat and boots.

"Yes, I am" she answered, and saw how the reflection smoothly stepped into the mirror as if it had been nothing more than a doorway. Placing her hand on the glass, Valkyrie received the memories of the reflection and went through them as she usually did, sifting through each until they were slotted into place next to the memories she'd made on her own.

She lingered on the memory of her aunt inviting them to evening tea. Beryl had been annoyingly social with her family as of late, a fact that disturbed her somewhat. Valkyrie suspected it was because of the fact that she was rich now, thanks to Uncle Gordon, and that Beryl wanted to be in their good graces so she could perhaps squeeze them for money some day. That wouldn't surprise her in the least, knowing that her aunt was nothing but a selfish old vulture. Valkyrie´s father still didn't like his sister-in-law any better, and was just annoyed that she kept showing up all the time. Her mum was also slightly annoyed but figured it couldn't harm to be a bit more social with each other. They were family after all she had said to Valkyrie. Shrugging, she dropped the thoughts of her suspicious aunt, and turned to crawl down into her utterly cosy looking bed, planning on playing a game or read for a while, but as soon as she'd made herself comfortable she felt herself dozing off and before she even realized, was sound asleep.


	3. The Twins

_**3**_

_**The Twins**_

Saturday dawned brisk and cold, the clear autumn sky painted with gold and pink, casting an otherworldly beautiful light over Haggard, gilding the buildings and the rocking waves of the sea. Valkyrie saw none of this. By the time she woke up, the sun was high in the sky and the world looked like its usual self again.

She woke to the smell of coffee coming from downstairs and turned a bleary eye to her bedroom clock to see that it was 10:13 am. Her parents seemed to have slept in late today as well, she thought as she heaved herself out of the comfort of her warm covers, wondering if her favourite jeans was dirty or not as she spotted them lying on the floor. Deciding they weren't dirty enough, Valkyrie put them on along with a dark blue hoodie. She swept her brush through her hair hastily and got down to find her parents sitting in the kitchen, still in their bathrobes, lazily sipping coffee while watching TV.

"Morning, love. Nice to sleep in, eh?" Her mother greeted her as Valkyrie entered the kitchen. Her dad tried to greet her as well, but it was apparently hard to do so and taking a sip of coffee at the same time, so he just ended up swallowing wrong which resulted in a coughing-fit.

"Yeah, ´t was. Haven't done much of that lately, with school and all." She said as she helped herself to toast, juice and cereals. Her dad finally stopped coughing and beating his own chest.

"I hear you, Steph. But that only makes the few occasions all the more sweet." Desmond said, taking another sip of his coffee but a lot more careful now. Valkyrie just nodded at that, digging in on the cereals, when suddenly her cell phone rang. Luckily it was on soundless, so her parents didn't hear it.

"Already finished?" her dad asked surprised as she rose from the table.

"No, just going to the bathroom. Be right back." She lied and darted out of the kitchen and into her room, where she flipped open her phone.

"Hello?" Valkyrie said and was answered by Skulduggery. She really hadn't expected anyone else. The only other people who knew her number where her parents and Tanith.

"Valkyrie, are you decent?" He asked.

"Why?" was her counter question.

"Because I´m standing right outside by the pier. There's popped up a new case and we need to move out right away." He answered.

"I haven't even had breakfast yet, much less a shower. What is it this time, a nutter who's obsessed with toenails?" was her agitated response.

"Worse. Your wish from yesterday just may have come true" Skulduggery said grimly, rousing Valkyrie´s attention. She gave a deep sigh.

"Just let me get dressed and get my reflection and then we'll go"

"See you soon" Skulduggery said before he hung up.

Valkyrie quickly got her reflection out, after checking her hoodie for any letterings or logos so that it wouldn't come out backwards on the replica. Mirror- Valkyrie stepped through the mirror as Valkyrie put on her coat and boots.

"You better hurry down and finish my breakfast, or my mum might think I´m constipated" She said as she got up to the window.

"Ok, have fun" the replica said and went downstairs as Valkyrie flew down to the ground, careful as to not be seen by her parents, heading towards the pier.

"Where are we heading?" She asked as soon as she entered the Bentley.

"Hello to you too, and if you were wondering I´m feeling fine." Skulduggery said in mock hurt as he started up the engine and drove off through Haggard.

"We've been near death together; I think we are well beyond the stage of exchanging pleasantries just for the sake of it." Valkyrie said with a raised eyebrow.

"It never hurts to be polite, does it?" the skeleton asked with a shrug, going onto the main road leading to Dublin.

"Even though I've had a surprisingly good nights rest, I´m hungry and I haven't had a shower. I don't feel like verbally sparring with you right now, so just tell me what we've got." She said, and saw how Skulduggery snapped his head towards her.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Are you sick?" he asked her, making her frown in confusion.

"No, I´m not sick. Why do you ask?"

"You said you didn't want to verbally spar, bicker, nag or anything like that, things that you usually do, so I´m asking: are you sick?" He explained, in the end Valkyrie couldn't keep her amused smile away from her face.

"Just drive, Skulduggery" she said and gave him a friendly shove.

They parked outside the familiar semi-condemned apartment building, the warmth of the midmorning sun made even this place look somewhat less ratty. They stepped in through the gate, heading up to the third floor, the floor which belonged to the symbol mage, China Sorrows. They were directed to her apartment by the new Librarian, a tall and thin man with absolutely no hair whatsoever.

"Miss Sorrows is still in a previously appointed meeting, but she instructed me to let you in if you happened to show up." He said in a deep raspy voice. He vaguely reminded Valkyrie of Lurch from the Addams family. As she and Skulduggery entered China's lavish apartment, they saw the symbol mage sitting behind her desk, talking to another woman with a strange dog beside her.

The stranger was semi-tall, well built. Slender, yet strong looking. She was slightly tanned and had lush crimson hair cascading down her back and shoulders, matching well with her brown vest and dark jeans. Valkyrie also noticed she wore some kind of armguards on each appendage. Going from her elbows down to her wrists, they were a dirt-brown colour with fading gold details. Her face she couldn't see, since she stood with her back to the door.

The dog, if that was what it was, was large and black. Valkyrie could almost see the muscles ripple underneath its sleek raven fur. It was the size of a Great Dane, but had the built of a Doberman, but unlike a Doberman, it had a long bushy tail, tipped with flames. And its head!!

The head looked like it had semi-merged with a canine skull, resting over its face like a helmet, eyes visible in its sockets, and a normal mouth seen beyond the rows of teeth from the skull-helmet. And just to top it all of, like it wasn't bizarre enough, it had a cigarette dangling from its mouth.

Valkyrie suddenly bumped into Skulduggery´s back, who had stopped dead in the middle of the doorway when he spotted China's guests.

"Skulduggery?" she asked confused when he didn't move. She saw a shiver go through him, before he turned to her, giving her a quick nod, showing that he was fine. China rose from her desk as she spotted the two of them in the doorway.

"Skulduggery, Valkyrie, what a pleasure to see you" she greeted as she moved around her desk, making the redhead and the dog turn towards them as well. It was then Valkyrie saw that the redhead's eyes were a misty white colour, with no pupils, and she realised by the way she didn't focus her eyes on any of them that the woman was blind. The weird thing though was that she had a pair of slender glasses resting on her nose when she obviously didn't need any.

China stepped up to the still motionless Skulduggery. Valkyrie had moved from the doorway to stand beside her still friend, befuddled as to why he'd become like frozen. China's face was a mask of politeness as she spoke again, Valkyrie guessed she didn't like her guests all that much, only her pride didn't allow her to show it. Much.

"You remember Miss Harker and Mr Constantine don't you?" she said, indicating the two strangers. Valkyrie saw the redheads face light up in a smile as she stepped up to them, and was utterly surprised when Miss Harker suddenly captured Skulduggery in a tight embrace. Wondering for a moment what his reaction would be, Valkyrie saw him hug back after the initial surprise had faded.

"Hello Mist" he said softly.


	4. Missing Blood

_**4**_

_**Missing blood**_

Mist, which was obviously her first name, released Skulduggery from the hug, but never let go entirely, her hands resting gently on his arms. Valkyrie had no idea who this woman was but it was clear that she and Skulduggery were close and it made her curious to just how they knew each other.

"Is that any way to greet your superior officer?" Mist asked with a small chuckle.

"The war is long over, Mist, and I thought one was relieved of duty once you're dead, as you very well know, I am." Skulduggery retorted.

"That doesn't change the fact that I´m higher ranked than you" she stated amused, giving him a swat on the shoulder.

The strange dog-like creature, which Valkyrie assumed was Mr Constantine joined up with them and she had a moment were she thought her eyes would pop out of her eye sockets in surprise. Because all of a sudden, it spoke.

"´Ello there, Skulduggery. Still kicking I see, so to speak." It said, with a rather hoarse rumbly voice, like a growl put like a voice. It…he, like Mist had a Scottish accent, although his was a lot heavier than Mist's more sophisticated dialect.

"Of course. Disappointed Smokey?" Skulduggery jabbed with mirth and the hound, Smokey, who gave a low rumbly chuckle.

"S´good ´te see you again, Skul." It said, and drew a long puff from its cigarette, making China wrinkle her face ever so slightly in disgust.

Mist then turned her face to Valkyrie´s general direction, and Valkyrie found herself being stared at those white eyes of hers. Not that they were unpleasant or scary. She thought they looked like two orbs of purest morning mist, and figured that's were the redhead had taken her name from. As for Smokey, it really weren't that hard to figure out.

"Hello, you must be Valkyrie Cain. Mist Harker, at your service." Mist said, offering Valkyrie her hand, which she took.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Harker" she answered politely. She didn't really know why, but Valkyrie found Mist's aura to be rather strange. She was blind, yet she was the one emitting the strongest feel of…skill and experience, the sort of feel one would get from a hardened war-veteran. Not that Valkyrie had ever met any of those, but she'd seen people like that on TV and such. And they had a…sort of feel to them that was found nowhere else.

"And this here is my brother Smokey." Mist said, nodding her head at the weird, smoking dog. Valkyrie mentally smacked herself when she once again was surprised.

_I've been a part of the magical society for little over a year; I should know that anything's possible here. Even having a weird dog for a brother… _she thought as she nodded politely to Smokey, who gave a low chuckle.

"´S alright to be surprised, lass, you don't have ´ta hide it." He said, taking another puff. She gave a weak smile at that, along with a small nod.

"You'll have to excuse my sidekick; she's a little slow in the head sometimes." Skulduggery said, earning him another swat on the arm from Mist, while Smokey burst out laughing, which sounded more like a barking cough.

"I see you haven't lost your sense of humour, Skul" he said between laughs.

"Some humour then. Just ignore him, Miss Cain, that's the best way to bear with him." Mist said to Valkyrie, who smirked.

"Call me Valkyrie and don't worry, I learned that ages ago. I've pretty much done nothing else since I met him."

Mist and Smokey laughed while Skulduggery crossed his arms in a displeased way, which made Valkyrie´s smirk turn into a grin.

"Perhaps we should discuss what you were called here for, and save the jokes and catching up for later." China, who'd been silent for a while, intervened. Valkyrie was absolutely convinced China didn't like Mist when she saw the symbol mage give the blind woman a look with narrowed icy eyes, as she walked back to her desk.

"Excellent idea." Skulduggery said, pouncing on the chance to escape being the laughing stock. Mist, Smokey and Valkyrie shared a smirk.

China pulled out a file from one of her drawers and began sifting through the papers while she explained the situation.

"During the last three days five mages have been found dead in various parts of Dublin. Three of them were Sanctuary officials, the other two were civilians. We also have one non-magical, killed at the Airport. Why they were killed we do not know, but the way they were killed suggests we are dealing with a powerful Adept." She said.

"Any leads so far who it might be?" Skulduggery asked coming up to Chinas desk, trying to peek at the file in her hands.

"No, the Sanctuary has no known records of anyone using the technique this killer is using." She answered, sitting down behind her desk, thus effectively hiding the papers from view.

"How were they killed?" Valkyrie asked, not sure if she wanted to know.

Instead of telling, China tossed a pair of photos on top of the desk in plain sight for everyone to see. Six photos showing an equal number of corpses all shrivelled and dried out. Valkyrie thought they could have been mummies if it hadn't been for the fact that the victims still had faint traces of regular skin colour, instead of the decayed brown mummies usually had. They all looked like...

"As you can see the victims have been completely drained from blood, however, this is not the work of a tidy vampire. Professor Kenspeckle informed me that they were drained from their very pores." China added to the info they got from seeing the pictures.

Mist frowned when she heard what China had to say, and the undertone of sarcasm the symbol mage had when she said: "as you can see" didn't escape her either. Apparently China still had a grudge with her. She turned her head slightly to her brother and faintly heard him nod..

"Aye, Mist that could be her…" he said, answering her unspoken question.

"What? You mean you might know who it is?" Valkyrie asked. The two of them nodded grimly.

"Yes…we're not sure, but it could be the one we came here to look for." Mist said. Skulduggery suddenly flinched and turned fully to the siblings.

"Don't tell me…" he started but stopped himself when he saw Mist and Smokey nod.

Valkyrie was about to burst with curiosity. She hated to be left out of information. She was just about to ask when a gesture from Skulduggery silenced her.

"When?" he asked. Mist's unseeing gaze hardened.

"Two months ago. Somehow her bindings were weakened and she managed to flee the Asylum. Killed three guards as she broke out, the exact same way these were killed."

"Could you please tell me who it is you're talking about. You all seem to know this woman?" Valkyrie said, making everyone turn towards her. Smokey lit another cigarette, using the fire from his tail, before he spoke.

"Aye, we do, lass." He said, letting out a large cloud of smoke.

"´Tis our wee little sister."

Valkyrie was at a loss for words, and immediately felt somewhat ashamed for asking.

"Oh…I´m sorry."

"Don't be, lass, ´tis normal to be curious." He said.

"Besides, you are in on this case, so you have the right to know, Valkyrie." Mist added. Valkyrie just nodded and turned to the photos again, but couldn't help feeling a bit proud Mist considered her important enough to share information with, unless some magicians she'd met over the past year or soo, who only thought of her as a child.

Skulduggery picked one of them up to take a closer look, head tilted to the side the way he used to when contemplating something.

"If Vicious escaped two months ago why did she wait this long to come to Ireland?" He murmured lowly.

"That's what we'd like to know too. Smokey and I have been tracking her all around the UK for the last two months. She's not been to any places of significance, what we know, and she's not done anything like this on any of the other places." Mist said.

"We think she's just been bidding her time for sumtin´. We jus´ don't know what." Smokey said between drags.

"I think I know why…"Skulduggery said slowly and turned the photograph he held in his hand so the others could see. It took some time for Valkyrie to get it but when she stepped closer she drew a surprised gasp. If she hadn't know he was under lock and key in the Sanctuary Morgue she could have sworn it was Baron Vengeous in the picture, shrivelled and dried out, the face was almost unrecognisable, but the beard and hair looked almost exactly the same as the Baron's.


End file.
